Talk about a Friday news dump. At 5:42 p.m., when just about everyone was either a couple of sheets in at Happy Hour or halfway to Rehoboth, the announcement came in, subject line: “Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs Announce Agreement to Combine Firms.”

The release laid out the particulars: “Operating under the name Squire Patton Boggs, the firm will consist of approximately 1,600 lawyers spanning 45 offices in 21 countries around the world. This places the firm among the top 25 firms globally in terms of lawyer headcount, and eighth by number of countries where they have offices, as per The American Lawyer 2013 Global 100. The firm will also rank as one of the top 10 largest firms in Washington DC with approximately 280 lawyers and among the largest in the United States with roughly 785 lawyers.”

Patton Boggs, like many K Street firms who have seen revenue plunge in recent years, has been trying to figure it out lately, shedding partners and checking out its merger options, so it’s no huge surprise that this happened. Earlier this week, the merger hit a snag over last minute jitters over Patton Boggs’ involvement in a lawsuit between Chevron and Ecuadorean villagers. The late-Friday-before-the-holiday-announcement signals that the powers that be finally got enough of a green light to not call the whole thing off. Congratulations to the happy couple.

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The herky-jerky processes of technological advance are destroyed when those who preach from collectivism’s altar attempt to direct that everything be made equally available to everyone.

YONATAN C

WHAT ARE THE DEMOCRATS PREPARED TO DO ABOUT THE UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENSION BILL? DO THEY PLAN TO WASH THEIR HANDS OF THE WHOLE ISSUE? THERE ARE STILL MORE THAN 2.6 MILLION UNEMPLOYED FAMILES WITHOUT ANY MEANS TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES SINCE LAST DECEMBER. THEY NEED YOUR HELP PEOPLE. THE REPUBLICANS HAVE ALREADY TURNED THEIR BACKS AGAINST THEM, AND HAVE TRIED EVERY DELAYING TACTIC KNOWN TO MAN, SO THE BILL COULD NOT BE PASSED IN TIME. THESE MILLIONS OF FAMILIES, FOR THE PAST FIVE MONTHS HAVE SUFFERED EVICTIONS, HOME FORECLOSURES, BANKRUPTCY, AND HOMELESSNESS, BECAUSE OF YOUR LACK OF COMPASSION AND HUMAN DECENCY. THE UKRAINE HAS RECENTLY BEEN GIVEN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FOREIGN AID, WHAT ABOUT THE POOR AND UNEMPLOYED IN THIS COUNTRY? THE PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER THIS ISSUE IN THE COMING ELECTIONS, AND IT WILL BE OUR TUEN TO VOTE, AND TO VOTE MANY OF YOU OUT OF OFFICE.

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Don Wolfensberger is a resident scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and former staff director of the House Rules Committee.